MeritValue

BARNWELL INDUSTRIES INC

BRNdata completeness 88%16 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

BARNWELL INDUSTRIES INC earns about -19% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 17% over 5 years — worth asking whether the growth reaches owners. The cash-flow models don't apply cleanly here — the ledger says why below.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$18.1M1$28.5M2$25.2M3$18M4$13.6M4
Net income$6.25M5$5.51M6−$961,0007−$5.57M8−$7.1M8
Operating cash flow$831,0009$7.29M10$1.94M11$4.71M11−$1.77M12
Capital expenditure$3.09M13$13.8M14$12.5M15$4.23M16$254,00016
Free cash flow (derived)−$2.26M9−$6.51M10−$10.6M11$482,00011−$2.03M12
Total debt$47,00017$44,00018$018——
Cash & equivalents$11.3M19$12.8M20$2.83M21$4.29M22$2.89M22
Diluted shares8.6M9.7M10.0M10.0M10.1M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$6.97
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$7.06
Free cash flow it threw off
−$2.02
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $6.97 of net worth that earned you −$7.06 and generated −$2.02 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-19% avg · 5y
FY21 —FY22 97%FY23 -4%FY24 -33%FY25 -135%

It earned an average -19% on invested capital over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+17% shares · 5y

Share count is up 17% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 100% — deleveraging.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0
DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
not applicable
3y-median FCF non-positive — growth-exit DCF not applicable (see EPV)
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
3y-median FCF non-positive — growth-exit DCF not applicable (see EPV)
Earnings Power Value
not applicable
normalized (5y-median) earnings non-positive — EPV undefined
Graham Number
not applicable
diluted EPS missing or non-positive — Graham Number undefined

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0000010048-22-000029 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0000010048-23-000022 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000010048-24-000020 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001628280-25-058738 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0000010048-22-000029 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0000010048-23-000022 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000010048-24-000020 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001628280-25-058738 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0000010048-22-000029 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0000010048-23-000022 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000010048-24-000020 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2025-09-30 · accession 0001628280-25-058738 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivitiesContinuingOperations)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0000010048-22-000029 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0000010048-23-000022 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000010048-24-000020 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001628280-25-058738 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0000010048-22-000029 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0000010048-23-000022 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0000010048-22-000029 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0000010048-23-000022 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000010048-24-000020 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  22. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001628280-25-058738 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)